Printing-press



UNITED sa'rns Para fr orme.

ALVA B. TAYLOR, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

PRINTING-PRESS.

Specicationof Letters Patent No. 28,915, dated June 26, 1860.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that- I, ALvA B. TAYLOR, of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing- Presses; and the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l represents a side elevation of a printing press embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is an end View of the saine, Fig. 3 1s a plan of a fragmentary portion of the press, Fig. 4L is an elevation of a portion of the press as seen by a person standing at `the right hand side of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 1s a fragmentary vertical section of the corresponding opposite side of the press as seen from the same position.

My invention has reference more particularly to that class of printing presses known as cylinder presses, in which a revolving nnpression cylinder carrying the paper is combined with a reciprocating carriage or bed carrying the type; and the object of my invention is to eheapen the construction of the mechanism that imparts motion to the reciprocating type carriage from the cog wheel that drives it, and to obtain a cheap and eiiicient gripping mechanism for seizing the paper and carrying it along with the cylinder which shall act with uniformity however much the speed of the press may vary.

The first part of my invention has reference to the first object, and consists in imparting motion to the double rack of the type carriage from the cog wheel that drives it by means of two pinions and a solid pinion shaft upon which the pinions are mounted, instead of upon a shaft composed of two parts connected by a flexible coupling as has heretofore been customary, the said solid pinion shaft being arranged to revolve in boxes or bearings which adapt themselves tothe different positions which the pinion shaft assumes as the inner pinion thereof passes from one side of the double rack to the other in the operation of the press.

The second part of my invention has reference to the second object above stated, and consists in combining the rock shaft of the grippers with an arm and stationary stop (to cause this shaft to rock so as to grip the paper), and also with a cam and pin which control the rocking of the shaft;

the operation of the combination as a whole being that the grippers are caused to close upon the sheet of paper at the same place whether the speed of the press be fast or slow.

The printing press represented in the accompanying drawings embodies my improvement, and in the general arrangement of its parts does not differ materially from presses of the same class in general use.

The impression cylinder A is mounted as usual upon a shaft that revolves in suitable boxes supported by the frame B, of the press, and its type carriage C is arranged to slide to and fro on ways c a beneath the impression cylinder A. The feed table D is supported at the left side of the cylinder A, and the ink font E with its rollers is supported at the right-side thereof.

Motion is imparted to the type carriage C from the cylinder shaft in the following manner: A large cog wheel F is secured to the cylinder sha-ft (Z, and a corresponding pinion, G, is secured to the outer extremity of a shaft m that extends about half way across the press beneath the type carriage C; the inner extremity of this pinion shaft is fitted with a cylinder pinion H whose teeth engage in those of a double rack n, secured' to the lower side of the type carriage. The pinion shaft is solid from end to end, and turns in two boxes, one of which lw is constructed to slide up and down in a slotted standard ro, so as to permit the inner pinion alternately to mount above and descend beneath the double rack, n., as it changes the direction in which the carriage is driven; the other box, g, which supports the outer extremity of the pinion shaft, is, in this instance supported in a U shaped frame K, that rocks on horizontal pivots e c, whose axes are at right angles with that of the pinion shaft and in the plane that passes through the middle of the pinion G, and its driving wheel F. From this combination it results that the pinion shaft vibrates from end to end, as the pinion changes its position from one side of the double rack to the other, without materially varying the relative positions of the teeth of the driving wheel F and its pinion Gr, and that both bearings of the pinion shaft adapt themselves to this vibration. The advantage of this means of transmitting motion to the type carriage are that it dispenses with a flexible joint in the pinion shaft, that it can be constructed at a less cost, and that it is etcient in its operation.

The impression cylinder A is fitted with a rock shaft z', which carries the grippers j, byA

which the sheet of paper projecting over the edge of the feed table is seized and carried along with the impression cylinder in its onward movement. In the press represented inv the drawings this gripper shaft is fitted at one end with a double armed hub h, one arm 0 of which as the cylinder revolves strikes against a stationary pin p which causes the arm to turn downward and the gripper shaft to rock so that the grippers, j, j, are depressed upon and seize the paper. The gripper shaft is rocked back again to release the paper at the proper time in the revolution of the impression cylinder by means of a second pin 7c striking the other arm f of the gripper shaft. When the shaft is rocked in one direction or the other by the pins it is retained therein by the operation of a spring Z acting upon an arm s, secured to the gripper shaft. As the spring Z operates to rock the gripper shaft as soon as the arm s turns past its mean position, and acts with uniform force, it tends to complete the rocking of the gripper shaft in the same space of time whether the press be driven fast or slow. If then there were no means of controlling the spring, the impression cylnder carrying the grippers would move a greater distance during the space of time that the spring Z is rocking the gripper shaft, when the press is driven fast, than it would do when the press is driven more slowly; hence the grippers would be carried farther from the pins, p, before they closed upon the paper when the press was driven fast than they would be when the press was driven more slowly, and in the former case would grip the paper nearer its edge than they would in the latter case. In order to prevent such result, a crank arm 1" is secured to the gripper shaft with its pin in a proper position to bear upon the curved rim of a stationary plate t, so that the rocking of the gripper shaft, however fast the spring tends to accomplish this operation, can take place no more rapidly than the plate will permit; the form of the rim of the plate is such as to permit the grippers to close upon the paper at the proper distance from the edge thereof, so that a uniformity of gripping is secured under varying speed. The position of the paper prior to gripping is regulated in the press represented in the drawing by means of a pair of paper guides or gages v v which are lifted by suitable mechanism at the proper moment to permit the gripped paper to be carried along beneath them, but as the construction of these does not vary materially from those in common use, and as they form no part of my invention I have not deemed it expedient to describe them minutely. I have pursued the same course with other portions of the printing press represented in the annexed drawing and for the same reason.

Having thus described an embodiment of my invention in a practical form, it is proper to state that I do not claim as my invention the separate parts of the combinations described by me, but leave it to printing press buildeis to vary these as circumstances may render expedient; thus for example a plate, or arm having a curved edge,

may be secured to t-he gripper shaft i in place of the crank arm, and a pin may be secured to the frame of the machine in place of the plate to accomplish the same result. So also the form, construction and arrangement of the outer bearing or box of the solid pinion shaft may be varied, so long as it permits the vibration of the pinion shaft without throwing the pinion out of gear with its wheel. In fine I may state, that my invention consists only in each combination considered as a whole, whether the separate parts thereof be identical with those I have described or operate in such manner as to constitute substantial equivalents therefor.

I/Vhat I claim therefore as vmy invention in printing presses and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The combination of the endless rack of the type carriage with the cog wheel that imparts motion to it, by means of two pinions and a solid pinion shaft having boxes or bearings that adapt themselves to the different positions which the pinion shaft assiunes in the operation of the printing press.

2. The combination of the gripper shaft, an arm and stop (for rocking it), and a cam and pin (which control its rocking) substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this twelfth day of April A. D. 1860.

ALVA B. TAYLOR.

Iitnesses:

C. C. JEssUP,

ITHAMAR MEEKER. 

